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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 9, 1995)
Nebraska 24, Miami 17 Nebraska linebacker Dwayne Harris sacks Miami quarterback Frank Costa for a safety in the third quarter of the Orange Bowl. After the safety, the momentum went Nebraska’s way, and the Huskers scored 15 more points in the second half. Huskers’ 4th quarter rout garners victory By Derek Samson Senior Reporter MIAMI — It looked as if Nebraska coach Tom Osborne would suffer the same fate he had suffered the past seven bowl games. The clock ticked down and Osborne’s 22nd season as head coach neared ending like the previous 21 — without a national champion ship. j4 But when the Nebraska players held up four fingers after the third quarter ended trailing Miami 17-9, tjiey meant it. Nebraska’s offensive and defensive lines wore down the No. 3 Hurricanes, and Tommie Frazier led two Nebraska scoring drives in the fourth quarter to beat Miami 24-17 in front of record crowd of 81,753 at the Orange Bowl. Osborne remained expressionless as he watched the final seconds tick off the clock, but winced and grinned after being doused with a cooler of water. “He’s the type of coach who really doesn’t show his emotions much,” Frazier said of Osborne. “But I’m sure once he gets a chance to think about it, he will probably shed a couple tears and be pretty excited.” But Osborne couldn’t have been too excited about the way the game began. > The Hurricanes cashed in on their first possession with a 44-yard field goal. After Frazier was intercepted by Carlos Jones at the Miami 3-yard line on the Huskers’ next posses sion, the Hurricanes again went to work. Miami quarterback Frank Costa drove his team 97 yards in five plays and gave Miami a 10-0 advantage with his 35-yard touchdown pass to Trent Jones with four seconds remain ing in the first quarter. Frazier was then pulled in favor of the junior from Goodland, Kan., after only two posses sions. Berringer — Frazier’s replacement after a blood clot sidelined the Heisman Trophy can didate in September — took advantage of Nebraska’s field position on his second series in the game. Four plays after taking over at the Miami 40, Berringer connected with tight end Mark Gilman for a 19-yard touchdown pass. Miami took a 10-7 lead into the locker room at half time. However, the Husker offense’s success didn’t last long. After the Hurricanes took their first posses sion of the second half 78 yards for a touch down, Nebraska’s offense went into hiding. But its defense didn’t. The Huskers trailed 17-7 when the defense came up with one of the biggest plays of the game. Miami was backed up to its own 4-yard line after a penalty when outside linebacker Dwayne Harris, who had three sacks, broke through the Hurricane offensive line to sack Costa for a safety. But the Husker offense fell victim to two costly errors. On its third possession of the second half, Nebraska drove 62 yards to the Miami 31, but Berringer bobbled the snap from center, and in a late attempt to hand off to Clinton Childs, the ball was knocked loose and recovered by Mi ami. 'Hie defense again held, and Miami made a critical mistake when the ball sailed over Mi ami punter Dane Prewitt on the long snap on fourth down. Nebraska took possession and looked to be in business with a first down at the Hurricane 4-yard line. But on Nebraska’s first play, Berringer’s pass was intercepted in the end zone by Miami ’ s Earl Little. Enter Tommie Frazier. “I thought I would get back in the game, but at the time, I couldn’t think about that,” Frazier said. “Football is a game that changes — sometimes for good, sometimes for bad. I got a chance to get back in there and make some thing happen.” And Osborne knew if anyone could ignite the Husker offense, it was Frazier. “Frazier is a special athlete who can make things happen,” Osborne said. “He really gave us some things at the end. I was prepared to go the rest of the game with Brook, but I thought it was time to play Tommie.” Meanwhile, Miami’s offense had become ineffective after its opening drive in the second half and was completely absent in the fourth quarter. In the final period, Miami was held to minus-35 yards in total offense, while Ne braska racked up 102 yards in the quarter. Fullback Cory Schlesinger’s 15-yard touch down run capped off a 40-yard drive engi neered by Frazier and pulled Nebraska to 17-15 with 7:38 remaining. Frazier then completed a pass to Eric Alford for the 2-point conversion to tie the game at 17 Nebraska ’s defense forced the Hurricanes to go three-and-out on their next possession, set ting up the Huskers’ game-winning drive from the Miami 40-yard line. Schlesinger scored again — this time a 14 yard scamper — with 3:42 left on a drive that featured Frazier running for two key first downs on third down. Costa was sacked twice in Miami’s final possession, which ended with a Kareem Moss interception. “They (Miami) took too long of a vacation,” outside linebacker Donta Jones said. “We came down here for business, and they were here for pleasure. We conditioned hard, and we knew it would pay off because we would be able to dominate in the fourth quarter.” As Osborne watched Frazier kneel down twice to wrap up the 24-17 victory, his feelings leaned towards being grateful. “I’m a person that puts a lot of emphasis in faith, although I don’t talk about it a lot,” Osborne said. “I would like to express my thanks to God and to my players.”